Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star.
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1 | I liked Louis B. Mayer - I thought he was a nice man. Of course, he was the best actor at MGM, especially if somebody asked him for more money, and he'd cry! 'I'm selling glamor,' Mayer would say. All his MGM women were pure and wonderful. When they took pictures, you never had a cigarette in your hand or a glass of alcohol; and when you did a scene, your hair was never mussed - you were always beautiful. Warner Bros. films, for example, were more realistic, but Mayer said, "I'm selling illusion.' |
2 | When today's stars curse, you don't even hear them, but when Clark Gable said 'damn,' you gasped. |
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1 | After graduating high school Totter joined Ian Keith's repertory company. She referred to him as 'a beautiful, talented man.'. |
2 | She was given advice at MGM by Lionel Barrymore, "You're one of the best actresses I've ever seen, but you're never going to be a star. You're too versatile. If you want to be a star, start projecting your own personality.". |
3 | Following her high school graduation, she worked as a radio actress in New York City, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, prior to her moving to Hollywood, California during the middle of World War II to establish herself in motion pictures. |
4 | Turned down the role of Old Rose in Titanic (1997) wanting to remain in retirement. |
5 | She was a staunch Republican and conservative. |
6 | Her granddaughter, Eden Totter, is a voice actress. |
7 | Director George Stevens originally sought Totter for the role of Alice Tripp for his film A Place in the Sun (1951) but MGM refused to loan her out. The part was later secured by Shelley Winters. |
8 | Upon her death, her body was donated to science at the UCLA Medical School. |
9 | During her bachelorette days she was courted by such actors as Brian Donlevy, Ted North, Lew Ayres, Robert Walker, David Niven, and Cary Grant. |
10 | Was good friends with actresses Marie McDonald and Gloria Grahame. |
11 | In August 2013, she moved out of the Motion Picture and Television Hospital to live with her daughter and family in West Hills, California. |
12 | Was an expert fudge maker. |
13 | From June 2004 until August 2013, she lived at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, Woodland Hills, Califonia. |
14 | Dated Clark Gable, John Payne and Ross Hunter during her heyday. She ended up marrying a non-professional, Leo Fred, Assistant Dean of Medicine at UCLA. |
15 | Was supposed to play the female lead in the film noir classic The Killers (1946) with Burt Lancaster but filming Lady in the Lake (1947) became too long and involved so she couldn't do the part. Instead MGM took a chance on Ava Gardner in the role and, of course, she became a star. |
16 | Her father emigrated from Vienna, Austria. Her mother was of Swedish heritage. |
17 | In the late 1940s, made a television commercial for Lustre Creme's shampoo campaign. |
Title | Year | Status | Character |
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Murder, She Wrote | 1987 | TV Series | Sister Paul |
City Killer | 1984 | TV Movie | Receptionist |
The Great Cash Giveaway Getaway | 1980 | TV Movie | Judge |
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again | 1979 | | Martha Osten (Blind Cabin Widow) |
The Nativity | 1978 | TV Movie | Elizabeth |
Medical Center | 1969-1976 | TV Series | Nurse Wilcox Eve Wilcox |
Matt Helm | 1976 | TV Series | Mrs. Simmons, Ellen's mom |
Police Story | 1975 | TV Series | Judge |
Harry O | 1975 | TV Series | Mrs. Dante |
Hawaii Five-O | 1973 | TV Series | Mrs. Royce |
Insight | 1970 | TV Series | Mrs. Goddard |
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | 1970 | TV Series | Edith Powell |
The Virginian | 1967-1969 | TV Series | Audry / Mrs. Archer |
Ironside | 1969 | TV Series | Norma Baum |
Run for Your Life | 1968 | TV Series | Dorothy Young |
The Outsider | 1967 | TV Movie | Mrs. Bishop |
Chubasco | 1967 | | Theresa |
Bonanza | 1966 | TV Series | Beth Riley |
Dr. Kildare | 1965-1966 | TV Series | Ella Vitnack / Norma Littell |
Harlow | 1965/II | | Marilyn |
Perry Mason | 1964 | TV Series | Reba Burgess |
The Carpetbaggers | 1964 | | Prostitute |
Kraft Suspense Theatre | 1964 | TV Series | Mrs. Myra Moran |
Our Man Higgins | 1962-1963 | TV Series | Alice MacRoberts |
Rawhide | 1962 | TV Series | Vada Nordquist |
Route 66 | 1962 | TV Series | Babe Hunter |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1960-1961 | TV Series | Mrs. Philips / Betsy Blake |
General Electric Theater | 1954-1961 | TV Series | Betsy Dunn / Olga Lemaire / Mary Lund / ... |
My Darling Judge | 1961 | TV Movie | |
The Loretta Young Show | 1960 | TV Series | Mrs. Page |
The Ann Sothern Show | 1960 | TV Series | Lil |
The Lineup | 1960 | TV Series | Mary |
Hawaiian Eye | 1959 | TV Series | Martha Gregory |
The Red Skelton Hour | 1957-1959 | TV Series | Clara Appleby / Nancy Lump Lump |
Cimarron City | 1958-1959 | TV Series | Beth Purcell |
Lux Playhouse | 1958 | TV Series | |
Wagon Train | 1958 | TV Series | Goldie |
Man or Gun | 1958 | | Fran Dare |
Cheyenne | 1958 | TV Series | Martha Fullerton |
Climax! | 1955-1958 | TV Series | Anna Lederer / Dr. Helen Koenig / Edna Shaddick |
Suspicion | 1958 | TV Series | Marie Farrell |
Jet Attack | 1958 | | Tanya Nikova |
The Californians | 1957 | TV Series | Dr. Louise Kendall |
Ghost Diver | 1957 | | Anne Stevens |
The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial | 1957 | TV Series | Ellen Parsons |
Zane Grey Theater | 1956 | TV Series | Martha Phillips |
Warner Brothers Presents | 1956 | TV Series | |
Matinee Theatre | 1956 | TV Series | |
Schlitz Playhouse | 1956 | TV Series | WAF Dietician |
The 20th Century-Fox Hour | 1956 | TV Series | Ellen Benson |
Lux Video Theatre | 1956 | TV Series | Cheryl |
The Vanishing American | 1955 | | Marion Warner |
The Ford Television Theatre | 1953-1955 | TV Series | Breezy Adams / Joyce Evans |
Fireside Theatre | 1955 | TV Series | |
Science Fiction Theatre | 1955 | TV Series | Ellie Ferguson |
A Bullet for Joey | 1955 | | Joyce Geary |
Women's Prison | 1955 | | Joan Burton |
The Whistler | 1954 | TV Series | Kay Fallon |
Massacre Canyon | 1954 | | Flaxy |
Four Star Playhouse | 1954 | TV Series | Lila Lamont |
Champ for a Day | 1953 | | Miss Peggy Gormley |
Mission Over Korea | 1953 | | Kate, Nurse-Lieutenant |
Cruisin' Down the River | 1953 | | Sally Jane Jackson |
Man in the Dark | 1953 | | Peg Benedict |
Woman They Almost Lynched | 1953 | | Kate Quantrill |
My Pal Gus | 1952 | | Joyce Jennings |
Assignment: Paris | 1952 | | Sandy Tate |
The Sellout | 1952 | | Cleo Bethel |
FBI Girl | 1951 | | Shirley Wayne |
The Blue Veil | 1951 | | Helen Williams |
Under the Gun | 1951 | | Ruth Williams |
Tension | 1949 | | Claire Quimby |
Any Number Can Play | 1949 | | Alice Elcott |
The Set-Up | 1949 | | Julie |
Alias Nick Beal | 1949 | | Donna Allen |
The Saxon Charm | 1948 | | Alma Wragg |
High Wall | 1947 | | Dr. Ann Lorrison |
The Unsuspected | 1947 | | Althea Keane |
The Beginning or the End | 1947 | | Jean O'Leary |
Lady in the Lake | 1947 | | Adrienne Fromsett |
The Secret Heart | 1946 | | Dinner Party Guest (voice, uncredited) |
The Cockeyed Miracle | 1946 | | Jennifer Griggs |
The Postman Always Rings Twice | 1946 | | Madge Gorland |
Adventure | 1945 | | Ethel (uncredited) |
The Sailor Takes a Wife | 1945 | | Lisa Borescu |
Her Highness and the Bellboy | 1945 | | Mildred (uncredited) |
The Hidden Eye | 1945 | | Perfume Saleslady (uncredited) |
Ziegfeld Follies | 1945 | | Phone Operator ('Number Please') (voice, uncredited) |
Bewitched | 1945 | | Karen (voice, uncredited) |
Dangerous Partners | 1945 | | Lili Roegan |
Main Street After Dark | 1945 | | Jessie Belle Dibson |
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